Daughters of Darkness
by Lukas-the-Trickster
Summary: A year has passed since Sister Damasious destroyed a demon on Dessinisima, earning a place in the ranks of the Celestians bringing furious vengeance to the enemies of mankind. When an Inquisitor requests her Canoness' assistance to bring down a dangerous renegade in the Thanixx system, the Sisters find themselves facing an enemy more terrifying than any of them had imagined.
1. Prologue

_**Authors notes: So this is the prologue to the Sister Insane sequel, Daughters of Darkness. I finished this a while back and have been itching to post it but I wanted to make sure I knew where the story was going first. Anyway stay tuned for more. I hope you enjoy. Please let me know. Warning, this story will contain some very dark moments, extreme depictions of torture and violence as well as some sex. **_

* * *

Hive World: Thanixx V was about to come under attack. Its citizens were not aware of this. They would not be until it was too late. Thanninhive, the location of the first and heaviest assault was only just pushing into the waking hours. Its bleary eyed workers ready to start their morning shift as those that toiled through the night returned to their beds. In an hour or so the streets would be full of vehicles and pedestrians. They had no idea of the horrors to come or how many of them would never see another morning.

Thanixx was a mining and manufacturing world, one that provided minerals and weapons for the rest of the Imperium, not a true forge world, not yet. Thanninhive was the primary hive and by far the largest of the four cities that were spread across the Thanixx's sun blasted surface. It was here in the highest spire of the city the Planetary Governor was informed of a discovery deep below the surface in the excavation tunnels. An ancient sword they said, with a blade the colour of fresh blood. An alien relic perhaps? He ordered it brought to the surface and to the council rooms. It was reported that upon receiving it he barricaded himself in the towers highest chambers for days on end only emerging to attend high end functions and dinners. His staff began acting oddly, more aggressive and secretive. Soon this spread to higher ranking PDF officers and eventually down through to the lower ends until even the average man or woman on the street exhibited this same odd behaviour.

Unknown to the Governor there were spies in this staff. Men from the Inquisition, placed there years before. There were men like this on almost every world, embedded in every government, watching, waiting for signs of treachery. These men recognised the signs immediately even if others in the city did not. They had their contacts to inform and procedures to follow in such an event and it was those spies that brought doom to the world of Thanixx.

* * *

Nestled in the foot of a vast mountain range above the planets largest mineral deposits, Thanninhive was a black spot in a dull, rust coloured wilderness. Gigantic black spires pierced the scorching sky below a shimmering shield, erected to prevent the harsh sun's rays from cooking the citizens below. Huge smoke stacks billowed black clouds through the shield and into the atmosphere. It looked every bit as dirty and dishevelled as Sister Superior Elexyr had expected. One hand gripped the over head netting the other on the pommel of her power sword.

"We'll be at the DZ in two minutes!" The Valkyrie's pilot announced through her Vox ear piece.

Elexyr turned away from the viewport and the view of Thanninhive to regard her Celestian squad with intense brown eyes.

"Your heard him Sisters. Ready your weapons. We follow the Canoness directly into Governor Herthall's office at the top of the council spire. Resistance is likely to be heavy so be prepared."

Elexyr checked her Bolt pistol and returned it to its holster. She was ready, she had always been ready for this.

"Hear me Sisters." Canoness Maria's sharp voice filled Elexyr's ear piece. "Our intelligence has confirmed the blades presence on the top level of the Council building, myself and two units of Celestian's will take the tower and execute the Governor and all of his staff showing the mark of Chaos. All other units are to assault at ground level and work your way up. Every citizen is to be checked for the mark, those carrying it are to be killed on sight, regardless of age or gender. The order has been given that this corruption is weeded out and destroyed. Understood?"

All squad commanders gave their affirmative.

"Excellent. Ave Imperator." Maria finished.

Elexyr winced. Across from her Sister Lilith, a sharply attractive woman with a hard forest green stare, caught her eye and nodded grimly. Elexyr returned the gesture, they both knew what had to be done.

"One minute!" The pilot declared and the transports side hatches rolled open. Two Sisters manning the door mounted heavy Bolters cycled the weapons ammo hoppers and slid them into position.

"DZ in sight!"

Elexyr moved to the view port again as the Valkyrie passed through the void shield. The council building was the biggest thing in the hive, apart from the smoke stacks, it was black walled like the rest save its ten highest levels, they were almost entirely glass and polished steel. There were two landing pads jutting out either side with enough room for one transport each. One of the pads was occupied but the Valkyrie pilot unleashed a salvo of lascannon fire and ripped the smaller shuttle apart and pitched most of its remains over the side. Elexyr shielded her eyes from the glare reflecting from the buildings glass panels as she watched the little craft plummet to the street and then looked back at her squad.

"Gear up!" she ordered.

Her Celestian's responded swiftly, they stood and lined up at the rear ramp, weapons safety's deactivated with a series of soft clicks. Elexyr moved to the front of the group, flanked by Lilith and the rapier thin Sister Maya.

"Resistance on the landing pad!" one of the door gunners yelled.

Elexyr glanced over her shoulder. "Give them hell Sister." she replied as las fire whined passed the open side door.

Immediately the air with filled with the roar of heavy Bolters and the clash of shattering glass. After a few moments the barrage ceased.

"Targets neutralised."

The Valkyrie began to turn.

"Lowering ramp!" Elexyr called out and punched the release switch.

They were still a few feet off the ground. Elexyr bounded down the ramp and jumped, her power sword clenched in her right gauntlet and her pistol in the left. She regarded the devastation wrought by heavy Bolters coldly, her lips turned to a sneer. Behind her the Celestians disembarked, their black sashes and hair whipping in the downdraft of the ship. Elexyr pushed strands of her own dyed violet locks from her face and gestured with her sword. Across from them Canoness Maria and her Celestians were dropping onto the other landing pad, their powder blue power armour a stark contrast to the dark background of the hive. They'd meet in the main council chambers. Their intelligence had provided detailed maps of the buildings upper levels and each Sister had committed them to memory.

Bolter fire had all but destroyed the doors leading into the building. Elexyr stepped over a pulped body and peered into the smoke. Glass was strewn across the marble floor. Great gouges had been blown out of the walls, scattering yet more debris. There were only three corpses, ragged pieces of green PDF uniforms still clung to mangled limbs. Elexyr wrinkled her nose, the air stank of ruptured bowels and spilt innards.

"On me." She commanded and the Sisters advanced.

Away from the Bolter damage the walls and floors were pristine white marble and sparsely decorated with the occasional potted plant or paintings of former, notable council members. One of them Elexyr recognised from the reports was the founder of Thanninhive, his name eluded her for the moment. Through the windows was an impressive view of the hive, this high up they could see right over the outer wall. Elexyr peered downwards. Smoke was rising from the streets, Valkyries dipped between buildings disgorging their cargo onto the population below. Some tracer rounds cut the air, anti aircraft guns were opening up. Elexyr saw a Valkyrie brought down, that was ten Battle Sisters dead in an instant but such was the nature of war.

"Contacts!" Maya announced.

Elexyr spun, her Bolt pistol rising.

Two men, dressed in pale grey councilmen robes, came out of an elevator bewildered and frightened.

"You!" Elexyr yelled, "On your knees!"

They obeyed glancing at each other in shock.

"The mark should be upon the back of the neck, below the collar." Elexyr explained as Maya and Lilith moved in to check.

"What's happening?" One of the men blurted.

"Silence." Maya hissed and tearing his robes to look at his neck. "Clear." she hauled him aside.

Lilith snarled, "I have a mark!" she raised her Bolter and disintegrated the man's head with a single shot before he could move.

His comrade screamed. Maya covered his mouth with her palm.

"Calm down!"

He struggled.

"Your friend was a traitor, he deserved death!"

The councilman vomited and Maya jerked away, disgust on her face.

Elexyr shot her a hard look, "Leave him."

The man whirled on Maya screaming and sobbing, his hands clawing at her armour, "Murderers!"

Maya punched him to the ground. "Politician's!" she spat.

They ascended the tower quickly. Resistance was heavier on each level. Traitor PDF troopers with mounted heavy stubbers attempted to block hallways but were easily dealt with using grenades or flanking manoeuvres. Elexyr's Celestians were veterans of hundreds of warzones. They had faced far tougher enemies than these men, though Elexyr had to admit the determination of the PDF troops was commendable. Her squad never stopped moving, they never allowed themselves to become pinned even when the PDF managed to surround them. It could have been argued by some that the Sisters use of extreme force was excessive and unnecessary, that perhaps many of the PDF men killed were not traitors at all and most likely just following orders. In the heat of the moment though, there had been no time to check everyone of them for the mark, especially with las fire lancing towards you. This utter lack of emotion and conscious meant that not a single Sister was wounded or killed on the way to the highest council chamber.

Elexyr bounded up the last stair case, her power sword humming as she split a man from shoulder to hip and sent his halves tumbling down the stair well. Her bolter slammed another into a wall and detonated in his chest splattering her with scraps of flesh and blood. A third man wailed a name, likely his wife's or daughters, maybe even his mothers, and attacked her with his bayonet. Elexyr side stepped him and cut his legs off at the knees with a back sweep of her sword. He fell screaming until Maya silenced him with a shot to the head as she followed her Superior. Elexyr kept up her charge, breaking a nose with the butt of her pistol, removing a head with her sword or barging a man over the handrail to his death hundreds of stories below.

Eventually they burst out into a wide room with three wooden doors, each branded with the Aquila in silver at the far end. Two robed men waited for them, one screamed and ducked, the other produced a las pistol from the folds of his cloak and opened fire. Sister Annabelle took a shot to the neck and crumpled, her throat blown out, she marked the first Celestian death. Sister Lilith filled the man with Bolter shells in response, reducing his body to little more than pink mist and scraps. His comrade crawled for the fallen pistol but Elexyr shot him in the head, spattering blood and skull fragments up the door behind him.

Across the room another door banged open and the Canoness appeared in a flurry of black robes.

"Well met Elexyr." she said as her unit filed in behind her. "This is the entrance to the council chambers. The Governor awaits his sentence." she explained, hatred in her words.

"Let's be done with it then." Elexyr replied.

She crossed the room and kicked open the middle door, Maria took the left and Maya the right.

There were only a few PDF men in the circular chamber the rest having been deployed to the lower levels, clearly believing the Sisters would never get this far. They died before they realised they were under attack, bodies spilled over the amphitheatre style seating.

At the centre of the room the Governor sat in front of glass display case, behind a mahogany desk that could seat three. The Battles Sisters filed around the room, their weapons trained down across the chamber, all of them aimed for his head.

"I wondered when the Emperors whores would show up." he sneered.

Herthall was a podgy gentleman, dressed in heavy white robes that did little to conceal his weight. His head was balding and damp with sweat. His eyes bright and intelligent.

"I know I did wrong in the eyes of Him." he grumbled. "But do I care? No. I'm not the first or the last that will realise what a sham the Imperium is. All it takes is a little knowledge they would rather we didn't have." he smiled thinly, inclining his head slightly to the cabinet behind him.

Maria approached him, Elexyr at her back.

"Governor Marterro Herthall..." she began but the man cut her off.

"Oh spare me the bloody pleasantries and get it over with!"

Maria bobbed her head slightly, "As you wish. In the name of the Emperor you are sentenced to death." she levelled her pistol at his forehead. "Any last words?"

Herthall laughed, "Yes actually. Go fuck yourself!"

Maria shot him between the eyes, tipping his large frame backwards off his chair with a heavy thud of flesh on stone. Elexyr licked her lips, her eyes caught Maya's who nodded, then Lilith's who simply smiled grimly.

The Canoness approached the cabinet behind Herthall's corpse, there were splashes of crimson upon its surface. She peered inside, Elexyr did too and whistled softly at the sight.

It was a sword as the intelligence suggested, its diamond sharp blade the colour of freshly spilt blood, glimmered in the lights above them. There seemed to be no distinction between blade and grip, it simply narrowed at one end, that was wrapped in black leather with a silver pommel in the shape of a snarling dragons head. Elexyr could feel its presence and power through the case. Its aura was one of menace and hatred. She could feel its lust for violence, it was a weapon starved of blood. She retreated a few steps from the case. This weapon was not made by mortals, it was demon blade spawned in the warp and wielded by creatures fouler than any imaginable. How it had become buried on Thanixx would forever remain a mystery.

Maria leaned away from the case. She sighed. "Weapons like this do not belong the hands of mortal men."

Elexyr smiled sadly, "No, they do not." She replied and shot Maria in the back of the head spraying the cabinet in brain matter. Inside the blade growled.

Around the room roughly half of the Celestian's turned upon the others and opened fire. It was over in seconds. Smoke filled the room. Corpses in blue power armour lay sprawled across seats, or curled in foot wells. Those without helmets stared at the ceiling in pure incomprehensible shock.

Elexyr put her fist through the glass case and took the weapons grip. Her eyes glowed red.

"Ah!" she sighed happily. "Oh that feels good!" she laughed smashing the case completely as she lifted the blade from the pillow upon which it sat.

She gave it a few test swings, it was light and easy to wield. It almost felt like she had been born to carry it.

Sisters Maya and Lilith strode forwards and knelt before her, their fists clenched to their breast plates. Behind them the rest of the former Celestians did the same.

Elexyr allowed her fangs to show behind her purple painted lips, her finger rising to her ear piece.

"This is your mistress speaking. We have the blade. You know what to do."

Below the tower on the streets of Thanninhive the citizens and surviving PDF stared on in horrid disbelief as the Battle Sisters turned on each other. Roughly half of them simply pointed their guns at their Sisters backs or turned to face them at point blank range. Most of the loyal Sisters didn't even return fire, so astounded as they were by their comrades actions, they died with a mixture of confusion and anger on their faces. When the work was done the traitors turned their guns once again on the PDF and it wasn't long before they held the city. It was later reported that the other three hives suffered the same fate and the Inquisitorial spies were murdered before another transmission could be sent. In less than one hour Thanixx had fallen and now it had a new ruler.


	2. Chapter 1

_**Authors notes: Official chapter 1 of Daughters of Darkness. As always let me know what you think. **_

* * *

_A spiritu dominatus,  
Domine, libra nos,  
From the lighting and the tempest,  
Our Emperor, deliver us.  
From plague, temptation and war,  
Our Emperor, deliver us,  
From the scourge of the Kraken,  
Our Emperor, deliver us._

_From the blasphemy of the Fallen,  
Our Emperor, deliver us,  
From the begetting of daemons,  
Our Emperor, deliver us,  
From the curse of the mutant,  
Our Emperor, deliver us,  
A morte perpetua,  
Domine, libra nos.  
That thou wouldst bring them only death,  
That thou shouldst spare none,  
That thou shouldst pardon none  
We beseech thee, destroy them._

Thick clouds of smoke and exhaust fumes blackened the once tranquil blue skies of Sacranium. It's once lush and rolling grasslands had been flattened and churned by artillery fire and tank treads. The machine of war had been brought to this holy and sacred place but for once it was not the arch enemy of mankind coming to despoil and corrupt. Sacranium had been invaded by an altogether different but not less offensive enemy. They had arrived under the notion that this peaceful world would be easily subdued and coerced into following what they called the Greater Good. In their arrogance the Tau had desecrated the shrine worlds sacred soil, destroyed and defiled effigies of the Emperor; burned His places of worship. They had suppressed and controlled the population. Forcing them to attend the teachings of the Ethereals. There had been uprisings of course, but Sacranium had no true militia or planetary defence forces to call upon and those who rebelled the Tau rule were crushed as swiftly as possible. For four years the Tau had thought the world theirs, seemingly ignored by the rest of the Imperium, its people became less unpredictable and easier to control. Soon the Ethereals believed the world would become completely compliant and Sacranium could become a frontier world and staging post for the Tau's ever expanding Empire.

How wrong they had been.

Retaliation had been unexpected and brutal. It had come in fire and fury, by Bolter and chainsword. In a storm of righteous zeal and un-equalled rage, the Battle Sisters of the Adepta Sororitas arrived on Sacranium. Canoness Allria had given only two commands to her troops before deployment onto the worlds surface. Two very simple orders. Protect civilians and kill every single Xeno scum on the planet. They would be annihilated by sacred flame, by blessed Bolter, by the Sisters bare hands should the need arise. It was rumoured among the ranking Sisters that no one had seen Canoness Allria so enraged before. It was as if the Tau's mere existence sickened her to the core. This was somewhat true among all of the Adepta Sororitas, every alien was loathed equally but the fact these Tau had been arrogant enough to attempt to settle on a planet where the Emperor himself had walked had spun Allria into a fury the likes of which no one had seen. While the _Fidem et Ignis _and _Malleus et Incudem_, supported by a small fleet of Imperial cruisers, engaged the Tau ships in orbit, the entire Preceptory of Battle Sisters was deployed to the surface.

* * *

It gibbered in its unholy language, clearly begging for mercy. Cyan blood pooled from the belly wound inflicted by shrapnel from a Frag grenade. Its ochre armour was cracked and the red optic lens in its domed helmet winked on and off as if the suits internal power systems were beginning to fail. A three fingered hand reached out to tug the black sash that hung from beneath her belt, it groped half heartedly at the iridescent red, black armour encasing her leg, leaving trails of blue blood on the leering silver skull that formed her knee pad. She kicked the hand away in disgust. Quietly sobbing the alien clutched the limb to its chest and looked up at her. She pressed a high heeled boot to its neck and forced the alien flat on its back. A grim smile creased her pale lips as she brought her weapon to bear, onyx black teeth steaming in the humid air. There was already the blood of a hundred other Tau frozen solid on the ice cold black casing. Three silver runes upon the side glinted in the flickering firelight. Her armoured finger pulled down on the trigger hidden somewhere inside the blue wrapped handle. The Tau squirmed under her boot as the teeth began to turn with a throaty animalistic growl. Shards of frozen blood rained down as they became dislodged from the churning blades. At the weapons pommel the snarling silver wolves head seemed to be sneering, its sapphire eyes twinkling with bloodlust.

To the Tau the human woman at the other end of the weapon was everything it had been taught to fear as a child. Her pale, gaunt features were already spattered with the blood of his comrades, her mouth, pierced either side of her bottom lip by two silver rings, was pulled into a sneer of contempt. Her amber eyes blazed from within black pits of shadow she wore like war paint. Her hair as black as night, streaked with dark blue, hung over her left eye, the rest an untidily spiked faux hawk. There was a dozen more of the barbaric piercings in her ears and two bars through her right eyebrow. Most prominent of all her modifications was the black rose tattoo upon her right cheek, a single ruby droplet of blood falling from its petals, the Tau had noticed all the Sisters wore them but its significance was lost on him. She leaned closer to the Tau her face was masked in shadow, only her eyes glittered from within. Yes, it decided, she was everything it had been taught to fear.

Without a word she pushed the chainblade into his chest. At first all it felt was all consuming cold, right down to its core. It felt the sting of frost burn within its chest cavity where its blood began to snap freeze. Then pain, pure, white, incredible pain as the teeth churned through his rib cage. The Tau screeched, hands fumbling to push the weapon away but instead lost all of its fingers to the spinning teeth. It only took five seconds for the Tau to die but they stretched on for a lifetime. Its last thoughts were ones of curiosity as a distant vengeful howl echoed somewhere in its subconscious.

* * *

Sister Damasious The Ever Silent, withdrew Storm Fang from the twitching Xeno corpse and casually kicked it aside. She looked to the horizon at the smoke blackened sky of Sacranium. Imperial landing ships were coming down now the Tau anti-air guns had been neutralised. In this district at least. Away to the West, over a wide plaza the cities central Cathedral had been re-purposed as the Tau commanders base of operations. That was the Battle Sisters next target, but between them and it were miles of armoured barricades and makeshift trenches. It would likely be the last push, up close and personal, brutal and bloody. Just how she liked it. Storm Fang growled approvingly.

She heard the grumble of an engine at her back and stepped aside as an Immolator rolled past, a unit of ten Sisters flanking either side. They nodded respectfully when she caught their eye, a few muttered;

"Ma'am."

Damasious was a Sister Celestian, her iridescent red, black armour trimmed in dull silver as opposed to the former matte black scheme, she epitomised everything a Sister Militant wished to achieve in the Emperors service; if any of them lived long enough. She served Canoness Allria directly, fought alongside her, attended her during prayer and functions. She was one of her elite body guards elevated to this position through skill in battle and devotion. It was from these elite that a new Canoness would be chosen should Allria progress herself or, Emperor forbid, be slain in battle. Damasious knew she herself would never be chosen, the most obvious choice was Superior Amendera but Damasious did not care. She had no desires above her station. These Sister Militant however, some having only just taken The Oath saw only perfection in her, she was the embodiment of what they needed to become. Absolute faith.

If only they knew the truth.

"All units, we are making our final push on the Cathedral. Battle plan _Reclamatione_ is now in effect. Ave Imperator!" Canoness Allria's stern tones filled the Vox net and a cheer went up through the Battle Sisters.

From the gilded skull speakers set atop the Immolator's hull, music began to play, it was a hymn to the Emperor and his Glory. Many of the Sisters began to sing with it, the purity of their voices cutting like blades through the din of battle.

This was the endgame, the deciding battle of Sacranium.

Damasious began to jog. She over took the slow moving tank, raising Storm Fang over her head, she pointed him across the plaza to the huge grey stoned Cathedral beyond. Behind her the Battle Sisters cheered once more. It was a strange sensation, to be leading her Sisters instead of following the commands of another. Of course she was following Allria's orders to lead the spearhead, the Canoness recognising Damasious prowess in close combat would be vital in the enclosed Tau emplacements. Somewhere to the North on the other side of the plaza, Amendera and Mira lead their own battle groups too. Damasious felt strangely alone without them but pushed it from her mind for now. She wasn't alone, she had over a hundred Sisters at her back.

It seemed the Tau had been thorough in the construction of their barricades. They spread in staggered lines out from the Cathedral at the centre, they were dotted with sniper towers and domed heavy weapons emplacements. As Damasious ran she saw rows of pulse rifle muzzles appearing in firing slots all along their lines. White helmeted Tau Shas'ui troopers moved backwards and forwards between their squads bellowing orders and pointing at the advancing Sororities. They were disciplined Damasious couldn't deny them that. A lesser enemy would have broken and ran in the face of such fury. Their determination and defiance would get them nowhere however. Each would die, by Bolter or blade.

As one the Tau opened fire and suddenly the air was hot with pulse fire. Streaks of blue light cut across the stone plaza and through the Battle Sisters lines, some fell with hymns on their lips. Others were simply torn apart, their bodies pulverised by rounds from advanced Tau rail rifles. Damasious began to spin Storm Fang in front of her as she ran, turning him around her hands with years of practiced ease, pulse rounds uselessly splashed against his casing or were deflected harmlessly off to one side. Storm Fang growled under the onslaught, unfazed but furious. Damasious could feel him in her blood, thundering around her system in a stampede of adrenaline and rage. She bared her teeth at the xenos and allowed a wolfish snarl to escape her lips. At her back the thunderclap of Bolter fire split the air, drowning out the high pitched whine of the Tau weaponry. All across the barricades front line miniature explosions blossomed, throwing out clouds of dust and debris. Within moments the once whickering barrage of pulse fire died back to the occasional sputter as the Tau took cover. Immolators armed with heavy Bolters added to the barrage, aiming for sniper towers and heavy weapons. Damasious saw a few towers toppled and one or two of the heavy weapons emplacements explode in spectacular clouds of teal coloured flames.

Damasious kept up her charge, at the corners of her vision coils of red light snaked into sight, her blood was up, her pulse pounding in her ears. Her scream of battle rage ripped through the air as she leapt over the first barricade, Strom Fang held above her head. She landed amongst the Tau slashing left and right, limbs and weapon barrels were sliced apart in showers of sparks and cyan blood. Storm Fangs vicious teeth made laughably easy work of the xenos armour plates, chewing through it as easy as wet parchment. Damasious revelled in her savage onslaught. In close combat the Tau were pathetic adversaries, little more than an annoyance to be swept aside in a gush of spilt innards and blood. The Silent sister stabbed Storm Fang into the neck of a Fire Warrior that got too close and delivered a rib breaking kick into the next that tried to fight her off. She ducked and deflected poorly aimed pulse shots, butchered those that came within range and dealt the Emperors justice as Canoness Allria had commanded. In a few short seconds everything became a blur of bright blood and screams. She twisted and ducked, jumped and parried and with each strike a life ended instantly or painfully, she cared not which as long as they all died.

It did not take long for her armour to become caked in filth and gore, for her pale face to become lost behind a layer of dripping cyan. She spat and growled, feeling Storm Fangs rage and hatred bubbling away inside of her. It dominated everything, blinding her to anything but the kill. She was a huntress and her prey fled in fear.

"Mont'au!" she heard it a dozen times, screamed from the lips of dying.

It was meaningless to her but its effect on the other Tau was profound. Some dropped their weapons and ran, others sank to their knees and accepted death. Damasious made those that knelt before her suffer the most. Leaving them screeching with gaping belly wounds or by severing a limb or two so they would bleed to death in agony. Damasious lost track of time in her mad rampage, lost track of the Sisters who followed in her wake, lost track of herself.

Eventually she stumbled out of the other side of the Tau battle lines into a wide courtyard and looked up at the grey stone of the Cathedral. Its stain glass windows replaced by thick ochre armoured plates, its doors heavily barricaded and sealed, defended on either side by heavy weapon emplacements. Damasious stood panting, her face dripping with gore. A gaggle of Tau had fled from her onslaught and here pounding on the sealed gates, begging to be let inside. Damasious bared her teeth in a wolfish grin and advanced on them. Storm Fang rumbled a warning and she realised the heavy guns were being turned towards her. Damasious dived and rolled, the ground where she had once stood was chewed apart by a barrage of pulse fire. She ducked into cover, feeling the heat of displaced air against her neck. The Silent Sister waited, weighing her options when the rumble of engines filled her ears. She looked up in time to see a unit of Immolators smash into the courtyard, following in the wake of her charge. Their guns opened up blowing the emplacements, and the Tau manning them, into pieces of super heated shrapnel and slag.

Damasious rose from her cover, the battle rage ebbing slightly. Sister Amber, one of the Canoness's other Celestians clung to the side of the lead Immolator. Amber was a dagger faced woman, not un-attractively so but it leant her a fierce countenance that was only exacerbated by the glittering bionic replacement that formed her right eye. Her remaining natural eye was a beautiful shade of mahogany that seemed strangely too soft for the rest of her face. Either side of her scalp was shaven, one side tattooed with litanies of devotion the other with words of purity and protection. Between them was a streak of dark brown hair pulled back into a short pony tail with a few strands left to free to hang either side of her face. A row of pink scars trailed away from beneath her bionic eye, down her neck and no doubt ended where her cybernetic right arm was attached to her flesh. Damasious had heard rumours Amber lost her arm during a skirmish with a Genestealer cult and that's she'd torn the throat out of the Genestealer that had taken it with her remaining hand. Damasious had seen the women fight enough times in the last year to almost believe those rumours could be true. The woman dropped down off the tank, her Stormbolter held loosely in her gleaming black bionic hand. She advanced on Damasious, a smirk splitting her darkly painted lips.

Behind her was Sister Aurora, her Bolter held high and ready. She stood a head shorter than most of her sisters; her frame was elegant and slender, lending her a nimbleness and grace few warriors could claim to possess. A soft smile graced her lips as she followed behind Amber, unsurprised yet visibly pleased to see her comrade alive if not completely well amongst the corpses. The blood and dirt that was smeared across her face did little to detract from her beauty, it only served to further enhanced her ivory complexion. Her dirty white blonde hair fell in tendrils that framed her face, though at one point it had been an intricately knit herringbone plait that crowned her head, before trailing away over her shoulder; that precision had since been lost, tainted by the same filth that marred her face.

"You fight like a woman possessed." Amber remarked, her voice carrying the faint hints of accent Damasious did not know the origin of. Amber, like every Battle Sister, was tight lipped about her place of birth.

The Silent Sister shrugged.

Aurora gave her comrade a mildly disapproving glance, "You need to calm yourself however," She said to Damasious, "Canoness Allria cannot see you like this. You already sit low in her opinions."

Damasious nodded, trying to quell to deep rumblings of bloodlust still beating in her heart. Both Aurora and Amber had witnessed enough of Damasious battle rages to know the signs, and while Damasious herself often became ashamed of her actions she had yet to learn to fully control them. Allria had only borne witness to a few minor incidents but it had become slowly apparent she did not fully trust Damasious. However, her trust in Sister Superior Amendera was absolute, and the Superior had vouched for The Silent Sisters fortitude and battle prowess. Were it not for that Damasious would have likely have not become a Celestian at all. Giving Allria any ammunition to have her returned to Sister Milliant, or worse, was not wise. Damasious knew the bloodlust was becoming a more prominent problem, though the reasons behind it still eluded her. It pained her to admit it but she suspected Storm Fang may have been a factor. His presence, forever in her mind, seemed to be changing her but whether it was for good or for ill was another question entirely and one she had been trying to answer for a long time.

"The Tau commander lies within the Cathedral." Amber remarked, gesturing with her Storm Bolter.

"Canoness Allria leads the attack from the other side. I'd quite like to find him first, scare him a little bit before she arrives." A sly smile crept across her lips.

Aurora smirked, dropping the magazine from her Bolter to check its contents. Satisfied she returned it to the weapon with a hard click. "We better get a move on then."

Amber raised her fist, she held it for a moment ensuring the tank crews were paying attention then snapped fingers open and chopped her palm twice in the direction of the barricaded doors. At once the vehicles began to move, weapon mounts swivelling to focus on the entrance. Damasious felt the press of heat upon her cheeks as a dozen heavy Bolter and Multi-melta turrets simultaneously opened fire, the trio watched and waited, their hair lifted gently in the backwash of hot air.

At their backs the rest of the Sisters that had followed Damasious wake took up positions. Damasious stole a glance over her shoulder, all eyes were upon the three Celestians, awaiting the order to charge.

Within a few moments the Tau barricade had been melted and blasted away, leaving pools of liquid metal glowing white hot in the smoke that billowed from the doorway. Amber called a cease fire and the Sisters allowed the super heated slag to cool slightly before their advance. No return fire came from the gate.

"Damasious?" Amber nodded, "Care to do the honours?"

The Silent Sister swirled Storm Fang around in front of her, spinning his teeth a few times to dislodge any frozen blood still clinging to them, then thrust him into the air above her head. She held the pose for a moment, unashamed of the slight thrill it gave her to lead her Sisters into battle, then levelled him at the gate and took off at a sprint for the cathedral. Aurora broke into a battle hymn, her voice pure and clear and a moment later her Sisters followed suit drowning out the din of battle beyond.

Damasious gracefully leapt over the barricade wreckage and into the stone hall beyond. Smoke still filled it wall to wall but she paid it no heed, there was killing to be done. Storm Fang growled, chewing through the first thing that moved within her field of vision. Fresh blood was spattered against her armour and the Silent Sister howled with joy. She ripped the frost blade free and decapitated another figure stumbling through the smoke. At her side Aurora buried her combat blade to the hilt in the skull of a Tau Shas'ui trying to bring his carbine to bear. Her Bolter discharged into the chest of another, lifting his body into the air in an explosion of cyan gore. Amber's Storm Bolter spewed a torrent of mass reactive shells, its muzzle flash under lighting her features and casting bizarre shadows across her face. Snarling as she advanced in the smoke she must have appeared as some horrid apparition to the Tau, who turned and fled only to be cut down as they did so. The Silent Sister remained at the fore front of the assault, streams of Bolter fire whipping over her shoulders; she trusted her Sisters accuracy as she cut through the xenos. She whirled and ducked, leapt and ran through her enemies, in her wake there was nothing but death.

Eventually the corridor widened and the smoke dissipated somewhat as the Sisters emerged into what had been the Cathedrals main hall. It was a huge chamber, its vaulted ceiling hidden in shadow with hundreds of thick support pillars of dark grey stone reached away into the dark. At one end were piles of smashed pews, moved to make space for banks of Tau consoles and equipment, windows had been blown out and replacement with armour panels, wires trailed all over the floor and walls. Where braziers had once hung, artificial lights had replaced them, casting the chamber in a harsh white light. Better defences had been set up here and as the Sisters filed into the vast hall pulse fire lanced toward them in disciplined volleys.

Damasious took cover behind a pillar, a Sister to her right fell, her head snapped back and a spray of ruby mist venting from her shattered face plate. Another died to her left, impacts blossoming in her abdomen. The Silent Sister drew her Bolt pistol, hearing Storm Fang whimper in frustration. Soon, she soothed. She twisted around the pillar, sighted and fired. Her shot caught a Fire Warrior in the throat and tossed him out of sight behind a bank of consoles. Damasious ducked back, return fire knocked chunks of masonry from the pillar and peppered her cheek with dust.

"We need to advance!" Amber yelled. Her Storm Bolter was ripping the Tau's cover apart with every shot, throwing debris and bright flashes of sparks in all directions but she couldn't cover the whole room on her own. At short range the amount of fire power that could be brought to bear with small arms was equal on each side. Damasious saw another Battle Sister stumble away from her cover, smoke rising from her breast plate. A second later another volley of pulse fire cut through her guts knocking her to the floor.

Aurora touched her headset, Damasious heard her own vox link click, "Heavy weapons to the fore!" Aurora ordered.

Retributor squads began to advance. Bringing heavy Bolters to bear, they braced and opened fire, the sound was deafening. Damasious watched in grim satisfaction as the Tau and what items they were using for cover were obliterated in a sustained barrage. Slowly the Fire Warriors began to back off as their comrades were blown apart around them.

Eventually Aurora ordered a cease fire. Cautiously the Sisters advanced through the wreckage. Expecting at any moment to fired upon once more but the Tau weapons remained silent. As they drew nearer the centre of the chamber, into what had obviously been serving as the main command post; now a shattered shell, they found the Tau commander and a dozen or so Fire Warriors assembled.

"I surrender." The commander announced in surprisingly clear Low Gothic. His armour was different to his comrades, it seemed more advanced, thicker plates painted deep red as opposed to ochre. He went un-helmed, his pale grey face was pinched and lined with wrinkles. A long braid of black hair trailed away from the right side of his otherwise bald scalp. Red eyes stared out from beneath a heavy brow.

Amber, Aurora and Damasious advanced on the small group, weapons still raised.

The Tau commander frowned, "I am Shas'O Tau Val'An. I… I said I surrender." He repeated.

"We heard you." Amber replied icily.

Damasious heard her Sisters lowering their weapons but could feel their hatred and eagerness to kill.

"Then, we are your prisoners." Val'An explained, clearly confused by her hostility.

Damasious allowed herself a smirk.

Amber slung her Storm Bolter at her shoulder. She flexed her bionic hand. Then, faster than the eye could follow she grabbed the Commander by the neck and lifted him off his feet. A Fire Warrior let out a yelp of alarm and stepped in to interject. Aurora beat him to it, her knife slicing open the Warriors throat in one deft move. Cyan sprayed in a high arc as the Tau toppled to the stones with a clatter. His comrades did not move, wary of Damasious proximity and the glint of blood lust in her amber eyes.

Amber exerted a little pressure on her captors throat making his eyes bulge. "We don't take prisoners." She whispered.

"Celestian release him!" a stern voice echoed across the chamber.

Instantly Amber dropped the commander at her feet where he lay retching and coughing.

Damasious looked towards the entrance at the opposite end of the hall to see Cannoess Allria advancing, flanked by Celestian Rachel carrying the Preceptory banner and Sisters Leora and Katherine, all of whom still wore their battle helms. Despite the fierce fighting Allria seemed untouched, her greying brown hair still held neatly in a pony tail at her back. Her stern features unmarred by dirt or blood, her lips painted glossy red and her eyes lightly painted with smoky black. Even her cloak, deep crimson, trimmed with ermine, showed no signs of damage, it was as if she had only just finished preparing herself for ceremony. Allria marched towards the assembled Tau, her nose turned up at the sight of dead xenos, her expression intense and hate filled. Damasious didn't much like Allria, she respected her as a Canoness and did not deny the woman was a born leader, with sound battle tactics and authority but she had a habit of looking down her nose at those she deemed beneath her and had grown more than a little arrogant in the year or so since she had taken the role. It was a common trait among ranking Sisters of Battle, sometimes even among the Sister Militant and it was one Damasious despised. In the same vain however, Allria obviously disliked Damasious yet had promoted her as she would any other who had Damasious combat record. Their relationship would always be a strange one. Mutual distrust and respect also.

"I surrendered." The Tau commander choked, as he got to his feet, recognising Allria as the Sisters leader by her ornate armour and demeanour.

"I know." Allria replied coldly.

"My men stand down. I do not wish more… bloodshed." He explained.

"I know." Allria repeated.

"Then why… why do your troops still attack?"

Allria stared at him, the Tau were small in stature compared to humans, but in his armour the commander was the same height as Allria and looked directly into her eyes, unflinching. Her hatred was palpable.

"You invaded this world." She explained as if to a child. "You killed our people and made those left alive, suffer. You desecrated our places of worship with your mere presence. Your footsteps dirtied this world and it may never be truly clean again. None of this can go unpunished."

"We sought only to show your people the light of the Greater Good. Some of them even accepted its truth."

"And they will die for their heresy."

Allria clicked her armoured fingers, the sound echoing loudly throughout the chamber. Damasious whipped Storm Fang around to the left and then right and the two Fire Warriors stood either side were cut cleanly in half by the whirring teeth, pieces of frozen blood tinkling on the stones at their feet. Around the room the remaining Tau were shot down by single Bolter shells to the torso or head leaving only the Commander remaining to stare in bewildered horror at the carnage.

"We…"

"Silence Xenos!" Allria yelled striking across the face. She drew her Bolt pistol.

"It is obvious," Val'An snarled stepping back from her as she levelled the weapon to his forehead, "That yours is a race lacking in honour."

Allria squeezed the trigger.


End file.
